Chapter 447: Mutual Destruction

What puzzled him was that after waiting for a long time, nothing entered the cave entrance. Just as he pondered this, his pupils suddenly constricted. On the ground near the cave entrance, enormous claw prints appeared out of thin air, one after another. Something invisible had entered!

He held his breath, motionless, observing the changing footprints. To his slight surprise, the footprints headed straight for the northeast corner, as if the creature could sense something. When it discovered that the hidden spot had already been opened, it became furious. "Who got here first?" A powerful aura shattered its invisibility, revealing its massive body. It was none other than the Black Armored Beast, a creature with strength at the sixth level of Core Formation!

It held an amber in its mouth, within which a constantly rotating drop of blood was sealed. It was this blood drop that had led it to the northeast corner. Jiang Fan understood: "It seems the demon race also seeks Lu Jiulin's legacy. Good thing I got here first." Suddenly, his gaze fell upon the blood drop in the Black Armored Beast's mouth, and his heart gave a slight jolt. Could this be Lu Jiulin's essence blood? Wouldn't that be... the blood of a Soul Transformation realm cultivator? His mouth instantly went dry.

The Fate-Altering Jade Butterfly required a drop of Soul Transformation realm essence blood as one of the ingredients to cultivate the Heaven-Reaching Marrow, which was necessary for breaking through to the Nascent Soul realm. Jiang Fan had originally held no hope for acquiring this, as cultivators at the Soul Transformation realm were nowhere to be found. Who knew there would be a drop right before his eyes? This reignited his hope for the Fate-Altering Jade Butterfly. However, the Black Armored Beast was a being that even Fan Xingkong couldn't defeat. Taking Soul Transformation realm essence blood from its mouth was nothing short of a pipe dream.

Just then, outside, the sound of wind and snow suddenly intensified. A figure swiftly pursued and entered. It was Fan Xingkong. He surveyed his surroundings with surprise and delight: "A hidden cave dwelling in Mount Bu Gui?" The Black Armored Beast's blood-red eyes bulged, and it exclaimed in surprise, "Weren't you surrounded by my subordinates?" Fan Xingkong, hands clasped behind his back, showed a teasing expression: "If I hadn't appeared weak, how would you have led me here?" As a second elder of a sect, he was no fool. The Black Armored Beast had come prepared, leading a group of highly defensive beast kings. It surely wasn't just for his life and the lives of a few Giant Sect members. Therefore, it must have had another motive. So, Fan Xingkong simply pretended to be weak at every turn, then secretly followed the Black Armored Beast here. The Black Armored Beast snorted heavily: "Deceitful humans! But unfortunately, like me, you're also too late."

"Someone got here before us. Judging by the traces, they arrived recently." Fan Xingkong followed its gaze. Indeed, he saw the opened secret compartment in the northeast corner and the animal hide bag discarded on the ground. His expression darkened: "I didn't realize there was a master among us!" He narrowed his aged eyes, scanning his surroundings. He appeared to be looking around, but suddenly, without warning, he attacked the Black Armored Beast. This palm strike revealed his true strength, and it was both swift and forceful. The Black Armored Beast was no pushover; it had already prepared and activated layers of tortoise-shell patterns for defense. The difference was, these patterns had no hindering effect when Fan Xingkong unleashed his full power. They shattered instantly. Fan Xingkong's palm strike, like Mount Tai pressing down, heavily struck the Black Armored Beast's shell. Crack— The shell, which had been unmoving until now, was cracked in several places. The intense pain made the Black Armored Beast scream. It cried out in a mix of shock and anger, "Fan Xingkong! You... you've been hiding your true strength all this time?"

Fan Xingkong's muscles, which had begun to glow at some point, looked like cannons about to fire. A hint of cunning appeared on his rugged face. "In the martial arts world, who doesn't hide a few trump cards?" he sneered. "Did you really think your meager defenses could restrain this old man's physique?"

With that, he once again gathered his strength. His entire body's muscles pulsed with an intermittent glow, giving off an extremely dangerous feeling. The Black Armored Beast's eyelids twitched, and it quickly said, "Wait! I already told you. Someone got to the things here first; there's no benefit in us fighting!" Fan Xingkong scoffed, "Do you take me for a three-year-old child to fool? This place is so secret, my Giant Sect hasn't discovered it in hundreds of years! You came straight here the moment you arrived. Clearly, no one else knows about this place besides you. So where did this 'getting here first' come from?"

The Black Armored Beast immediately said, "I really didn't take it! Not only can I find this place, but anyone who has mastered the 'Iron Blood True Scripture' can also locate it!" Fan Xingkong's eyes flickered dangerously: "Do you think anyone in this world can master the 'Iron Blood True Scripture'?" The requirement to cultivate the first level of the 'Iron Blood True Scripture' was a specific third-grade spiritual elixir. In the entire Nine Sects region, no one could refine this elixir except for the Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion. But would the lofty Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion help someone refine such an elixir? The Black Armored Beast was speechless. If someone had mastered the 'Iron Blood True Scripture,' why would the demon race still be coveting this place? It seemed that truly no one else knew about this place besides itself. It was a situation where it was hard to explain oneself out of; whether it was true or not, it looked guilty. "But it really wasn't me!" the Black Armored Beast said, feeling wronged. Fan Xingkong scoffed, "Still arguing when death is upon you? It doesn't matter; once I kill you, I'll search slowly!"

"Hah!" he roared, unleashing an overwhelmingly powerful palm strike at the Black Armored Beast. The Black Armored Beast was both angry and enraged. It hadn't gotten the mutton but had stirred up trouble for itself! Seeing Fan Xingkong's fatal strike approaching, it refused to show weakness: "Do you think I'm afraid of you?" Roar— It opened its mouth, sucking in the surrounding air, then exhaled. A fierce hurricane was forcefully expelled. Fan Xingkong disdained it. "Break!" His terrifying palm strike tore through the hurricane, and he stepped forward like a meteor, slamming it onto the Black Armored Beast's head. Splat— The sound of blood and flesh splattering was heard. Half of the Black Armored Beast's head was destroyed! Jiang Fan's heart pounded with fear. Fan Xingkong, now revealing his true strength, had probably reached the eighth level of Core Formation. He was not much weaker than Kong Yuanba. Of course, if Kong Yuanba also had hidden trump cards, that would be another matter.

Aow— The Black Armored Beast let out a painful roar. Sensing its life in peril, the Black Armored Beast, with half its mouth, let out a fierce roar: "Since you want to fight to the death! Then I'll see this through to the end!" It lowered its head and, from beneath its armpit, retrieved a blood-red transparent orb. Inside, a drop of golden blood lay silently, radiating immense power. Fan Xingkong's pupils constricted: "Demon Emperor's essence blood?" The Black Armored Beast roared grimly, "Let's see who's stronger now!" It immediately tilted its head back, crushed the blood bead, and swallowed it. A miraculous scene unfolded. An overwhelmingly powerful surge of vital energy burst forth from within the Black Armored Beast, engulfing its entire body. The Black Armored Beast's aura surged at a visible rate. In the blink of an eye, it reached the eighth level of Core Formation!

Roar— It once again spat out a storm. Fan Xingkong's expression changed, and he attempted to tear it apart, but in just an instant, he was blasted away by the storm! Immediately after, the Black Armored Beast charged fiercely. Its hard shell slammed violently into Fan Xingkong. The latter, enraged, once again mustered terrifying palm force and struck the shell. Bang— Crack— Both fought almost to the death. Fan Xingkong was violently flung back by the shell, slamming into the wall. The wall developed dense, spiderweb-like cracks. Fan Xingkong slid weakly down the wall, leaving a wide streak of vivid red blood in his wake. The intermittent glow from his muscles quickly faded. The Black Armored Beast fared no better. Its already cracked shell was completely shattered, sending flesh and blood flying everywhere. Its remaining half-head also suffered severe damage; only bone remained connected to the head, the rest blasted away by the immense force. Boom— With a loud crash, the Black Armored Beast also collapsed weakly to the ground.

Both were severely injured, a mutual defeat. Both were gravely wounded. Any slightly powerful martial artist or demon beast could easily finish them off. Fan Xingkong gasped for air, swallowed a healing elixir, and said fiercely, "I'd like to see who recovers first, you or I!" The Black Armored Beast, relying on the Demon Emperor's essence blood, was also rapidly healing. Its bloodshot eyes glared as it roared ferociously, "Today, either you die, or I do!" With that, it lifted its paw and slammed it fiercely onto the ground. This slam, however, caused an unintended consequence. The violent vibration of the ground dislodged a large part of the Turtle Breath Cloak from Jiang Fan's body, revealing his shoes. "Who's there?" The Black Armored Beast and Fan Xingkong simultaneously noticed the anomaly and exclaimed in surprise. Jiang Fan sighed lightly and said, "I originally wanted to stay hidden. But since you've discovered me, then... I'll just have to take advantage of the situation!"